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Sunday, May 30, 2010
Memorial Day weekend
Happy Memorial Day to all my US friends. I know a lot of you are probably busy with BBQs and picnics this weekend. At least here in the CT/NY area the weather turned out nicely for all the outdoor activities.
Mike and I went to NYC yesterday and walked along the river. It's Fleet Week so lots of ships and sailors are in town. Always nice to walk along the water especially when the weather cooperates. Amazed at the crowds but makes sense since I'm sure it's a busy tourism weekend. After our walk we checked out a photography exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art and then headed out to Brooklyn to have dinner at Cafe Steinhof.
Today we are just staying home. Everyone in the neighborhood seems to be BBQing because the smells keep drifting in from outside. I made delicious mozzarella-tomato-basil-garlic olive oil baguette bites (if you want to see a picture click here) One of my favorite things to make. Yummmm. :)
Took care of some chores around the house and am now going to catch up with some other things like emails etc.
Working tomorrow but hopefully only half a day so not so bad really. I don't mind because I'll get another comp day to use for a vacation later on. Never hurts to have enough vacation time saved up. :)
Short mail update for today. Letters going out tomorrow to; Jessica/DE and Lotte/Denmark. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jetta/Finland and Charles/TN.
Posted by Hanna at 02:45 PM in Holidays, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The weekend that got away from me ....
It feels like that's kind of what happened to my day today. The first half went pretty ok, got up, went grocery shopping, had lunch. Talked to my parents, did laundry/put laundry away, did the dishes, cleaned out the kitty litter, checked on my new basil plant, all pretty productive things.
Well after that it went down hill. I was just going to sit down at the computer for a minute to check some emails and then go read my book. Well, sure enough here I am hours later still sitting at the computer but don't really have a lot of productive results to show for it.
Better go read a few chapters now before dinner. Was only going to work on my Rosetta Stone Spanish but might have to skip that for today. I guess all in all it's not so bad. Everyone needs a veg out-lazy day every once in a while. Yesterday we were at work till 2pm and then had a late lunch out with a friend so wasn't really an at-home day either. And next week will probably be busy with Memorial Day coming up. The holidays usually mean craziness for us at work.
Short mail update for today. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jessica/DE, Jetta/Finland.
Posted by Hanna at 04:30 PM in Random Thoughts | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
And already our last day again ...
And it's already time to leave again. Well not quite,our flight doesn't leave till 8pm but nonetheless our last day already agan. Why does time always fly ten times faster when you are on vacation?
We definitely had a good time. Saturday night we met up with my friend Eva and her husband Tirrell. Had dinner and then afterwards went to an area called "Virginia Highlands", an entertainment district, which was neat. Stayed out till a little after midnight.
Sunday we went to the art museum which was fun. And then in the late afternoon we met up with our friend Tommy. Had dinner at a place called The Nook which was really cool. I love the fact that they have so much outdoor seating plus thee weather was just perfect. Completely summer like. Lucked out with the rain too, up until now we didn't have any rain at all. And looks like it should hold out today too.
Yesterday we went back to the Virginia Highlands area during the day to walk around, have lunch, etc. And in the evening we went to the baseball game. The stadium (Turner Field) was really nice and the game was fun. And the Mets even won. Yay. :)
Today we are just hanging out, going to have lunch somewhere and hang out for the afternoon. Then in the evening it's back on the plane and back to the real world.
Short mail update for today. Wrote a letter on the plane to Nina/WA. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jetta/Finland.
Posted by Hanna at 11:52 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Hello from Atlanta
And here we are in Atlanta. Today kind of flew by but then I guess that tends to happen when you travel, etc. Got up at 5am to catch our flight. Had one connection in Philadelphia. Both flights went smooth and we even landed about 10 min. early. Our friend Tommy picked us up from the airport and gave us a ride to the hotel. Spent a little bit of time with him and then had a snack at an Irish pub/bar right next to the hotel.
Back in the room now, freshining up and relaxing for a bit. Then at 7 we are meeting my friend Eva and her husband Tirrell. Haven't seen Eva in over ten years. We both spent a language exchange year in Santa Barbara, CA in 98-99, attending school there, etc. I managed to keep in touch with some people from that year but Eva was one of the one's I didn't. But thanks to Facebook we reconnected, actually only about a week and a half ago. I was pretty surprised to find out that she now lives in an Atlanta surburb, also married to an American. Since we were heading to Atlanta anyway we thought it would be fun to meet up. Having dinner at Max Lager's Brewpub in a bit.
Tomorrow we are going to take it easy, sleep in, have brunch and then go to the art museum. Tommy has to work until 3 so after that he is heading back into Atlanta and we will have dinner. Monday night we are going to the Mets-Braves baseball game. And Tuesday it's already time to go back, but luckily not until the evening.
Staying at the Westin this time and the views from the room are pretty cool. Our room is on the 40th floor facing Centennial Park. You can see the aquarium as well, Pretty neat. The location is nice and convenient too, right downtown.
Short mail update for today. Wrote a letter on the plane to Nina/WA. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jetta/Finland.
Posted by Hanna at 06:09 PM in Food and Drink, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Walk across the Hudson, Ricky Gervais, etc.
Ok so today we are heading into the city to see Ricky Gervais. Should be fun. We are going to have dinner at a pub nearby beforehand.
On Sunday we ended up going for a nice walk (about 4 miles) in the Hudson Valley. You can look at the "Walkway over the Hudson" website here if you want. The weather was very non-May like, definitely a lot more like March. Very windy and chilly. It was still a fun walk though and nice to get out. After our walk we had dinner at the Gilded Otter brewpub where I had the best stuffed trout. It was stuffed with ham and manchego cheese topped with a spicy tomatillo salsa, paired with wild rice, grilled asparagus and squash. Ohhh sooo good. :)
This weekend we are off to Atlanta. Will be nice to be away from work for a few days. It's always good to get out for a couple days and just recharge.
Short mail update for today. A letter is going out tomorrow to: Celia/MA. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jetta/Finland and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 11:54 AM in Food and Drink, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Wine Tasting in New York
Here is a quick update for this week. This past week actually flew by pretty quickly but so is this weekend unfortunately. Didn't really do much today besides a few things around the house, answer some emails, grocery shopping, etc,
On Wednesday we went to NYC to go to an Austrian wine tasting event (Austria Uncorked) The event was held in Tribeca at a really neat venue. They had a rooftop terrace with really cool panoramic views. And of course the wine and food was all very tasty. They had over a 100 wineries which was really neat. It was fun to walk around, check out the different tables and hear about the vineyards and locations. The whole thing had a very New York City upper class kind of feel to it. Very cool.
Next week Wednesday we are heading into NY again, this time to see Ricky Gervais. Should be fun. He seems like a really cool funny guy so should be a good evening.
That's about all for now. Not sure what we will do tomorrow, if anything. Next weekend we are heading to Atlanta for a long weekend (Sat-Tues) Always nice to get away for a few days.
Short mail update for today. A letter went out on Monday to: Carmen/Malta. Letters went out on Friday to: Jessica/DE, Caroline/Scotland and Charles/TN. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jetta/Finland, Celia/MA and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 05:03 PM in Austria , Food and Drink, Wine | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack